Flight Simulator Show
The 10th Europwean Computer Flight Simulaton Show held in the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel on the NEC site in Birmingham was a resounding success in spite of last minute changes having to be made. The original venue, the Motor Cycle Museum, on the other side of the NEC roundabout was gutted by fire only a couple of weeks or so prior to the event and so not only a new venue had to be found but also there needed to be a complete overhaul of the shows internal planning. The Hotel had far less space than originally planned and some exhibitors were not able to be present. All was well on the day, however, and Bob Sidwick of RC Simulations is to be congratulated on the organisation and planning of this great show. It certainly was a day not to be missed by Flight Simmers in the UK and it seems that by noon they were all there!
There was good business to be had for many of the commercial exhibitors and here we see the well stocked stand of Air Supply aviation store manned by the enthusiastic proprieter Ken Cothlliff. As you see from the picture there was much to chose from. I was especially interested in the exhibit as its is our local aviation shop. Check out the web site for the vast array of material available for both real and virtual pilots.
I was entranced by the beautiful Lancaster bombers for the new X-Plane 7 and having recently invested in a copy of that excellent program I parted with a further £20 for a handful of World War II bombers. the next aircraft on the list will be a Spitfire and if it is anything like the Lancaster add on it will be a winner.
Also soon to be released will be photographic scenery for the Uk for X plane and so those simmers who like 'eye candy' will have some satisfaction there and still be able to fly a real simulator. www.circle-software.co.uk
The Visual Flight stand with a couple of exhibitions of the UK visual flight scenery was a joy. Like the previous exhibition there were opportunities to discuss the programme with the creators and when talking with John Farrie, the creator of the VFR photographic scenery, he told me of the imminent addon mesh programme designed specially for the photographic scenery. A beta example was installed specially for us and it looks good. It would be nice to think that the final programme would be out for Christmas. Although the stand looks quiet on the photo this was breakfast time before the doors were open to the public.www.visualflight.co.uk
